STATE OF NEW JERSEY V. OMAR TINDELL A-5457-07T4 1-07-11
Defendant was charged, inter alia, with the murder of a police officer in the line of duty. He was convicted after a jury trial of second degree reckless manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder, third degree receiving stolen property, third degree possession of cocaine, third degree unlawful possession of a handgun, and third degree terroristic threats. The court sentenced defendant to the maximum sentence on each offense and ordered that each term be served consecutive to each other, resulting in an aggregate sentence of thirty years, with eighteen and one-half years of parole ineligibility.
We affirm defendant's conviction except for third degree terroristic threats and third degree receiving stolen property.On the charge of terroristic threats, we hold that because the evidence demonstrated that the alleged threats were directed at multiple possible victims, the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the State needed to identify the particular victim or victims of the crime. The court's instructions left the jury unacceptably vulnerable to reaching a fragmented verdict, without the unanimous agreement of all twelve jurors.
On the charge of receiving stolen property, we vacate the conviction and remand for the entry of a judgment of acquittal because the State failed to present specific evidence that the automobile found in defendant's possession was in fact stolen.
Applying the bedrock principles articulated in State v. Roth, we vacate in its entirety the sentence imposed by the court and remand for re-sentencing before a different judge because the sentence was irreparably tainted by the improper comments made by the judge at the sentencing hearing attacking the jurors' character and independence and questioning the credibility of a police officer witness using sarcastic and inappropriate language.
